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WHY IS HISTO'kY 'REACD SO 
LITTLE ? 



AN ADDRESS 



Varents, Teachers, and Members of 
Fashionable Society, 



BY' 



A STUDENT OF HISTORY. 



printed by 
Walter F. Wheaton, 18 William Street, New Bedford, Mass. 

1876. 



WHY IS HISTO(RY <KEA^ SO 
LITTLE ? 



AN ADDRESS 

Tarenh, Teachers, and Members of 
Fashionable Society, 



BT- 



A STUDENT. OF HISTORY. 



PHI N TED IJY 

WAI.TKB F. Wheaton. 18 William Strekt, New Bedford, Mass. 

1876. 



Iff j(|e IJcailifr, 



Having, for several years, been a reader and 
student of history and English Literature, I have 
noticed how few there are around us that read history. 
In publishing this little pamphlet I am trying to 
show the reasons for this lack of study and reading, 
and hope it may draw the attention of parents and 
teachers to desire more carefully to attend to the in- 
struction of the young. 

What is contained in this pamphlet was first writ- 
ten in the form of letters to a friend. A desire was 
expressed that they should be printed, so I have 
re-arranged, and now call youv attention to them. I 
do not claim that there is anything very new in them, 
and do not desire to be called a critic or historian be- 
cause of them. All the statements I know to be 
true, many of them I have seen in practice when at 
school. If any one has any remarks to make upon 
this pamphlet, either pro or con, they would be very 
acceptable to 

A STUDENT OP HISTOKY. 



NOTE. — This little pamphlet can be obtained, post-paid, by sending 
fifieen cents (the cost of priiitin<r,) to A Student of Htstoisy, cfvre of 
Walter F. Wheaton, Herald Printing House, New Bedford, Mass. All 
letters to that address will reach the author of this pamphlet. 



FOU^ ^EASOJ^S WHY HISTORY 
IS 'REA'D SO LITTLE. 



On passing through the streets in the evening one 
can not help noticing the large number of young men, 
standing on the corners or idly walking about and 
seeming to have no end or aim in life. These young 
men are generally satisfied to earn enough to buy 
food and clothing for to-day and have no thought for 
to-morrow. They do not care to cultivate their 
minds or have any more education than what they 
now have. Their thoughts of work and duty end at 
six o'clock, and they are content to pass their even- 
ings in smoking, attending sensational amusements, 
loafing and drinking in beer saloons (or in worse 
places), gossiping, joking, and often gambling in a 
small way. Most of them could have become intel- 
lectual students, and though few of them would have 
made famous scholars yet by their studies could have 
had a desire for better company, and greater culture, 
and have had a greater influence in the world. They 
would have been more respected and perhaps have 
led some more capable brother or friend to a desire 
for usefulness. Idleness is surely the "mother of 
mischief" We scarcely ever see men of great intel- 
lectual powers in prisons or almshouses. Their 
studies keep them from vice and wickedness. The 
number of idle men far exceed the useful and studi- 
ous, and that number is increasing rapidily. It will 
increase far more rapidly unless a thirst for wisdom 



6 



of some kind, is planted in them. Young men to- 
day waste money enough to purchase a fine lil)rary 
and obtain a good education. A gentleman in a 
Boston railroad office, with a moderate salary, has 
spent his evenings in study, until he has mastered 
several languages, and is now the possessor of a fine 
library. Instead of spending his evenings in idle- 
ness he has been studious, and the money he would 
have spent in drink and folly he has spent in books. 
A friend once asked me why more young men did 
not read and study history, and I gave him these 
four reasons: — 

I. They are not taught to love it at home, in 
their childhood, 

II. They are not taught to love it at school. 

III. The popularity of Scientific Studies, for the 
past few years has usurped the place that belongs to 
historj'. 

IV. It is not fashionable; that is, it is not en- 
couraged by modern society. 

Let us look into the matter and see if the above is 
not true. 

Ask any of these young men what they think of 
history? and they will answer: "It is a collection 
of facts, figures, dates and events. It is the dryest 
reading. It is of no interest to any one except old 
men and book-worms." If some one has tried to 
drill it into them in years past and has not tried to 
show them why it is pleasant reading, and has not 
tried to make it interesting; or, if they themselves 
have tried to read some Universal history of fifty 
volumes, they are right in giving such an answer. 
People, especially the young, should be led to love it. 



It can be done easily now, for the old fashioned way 
of writing history has passed away. 

In speaking of those old style histories, Dr. Samuel 
A. Greene says: "Most of those entered largely 
into details. They faithfully recoi'ded every minor 
conflict and delighted in the description of battles. 
We are told what the right wing of an army did and 
what happened to the left. The number of men en- 
gaged on each side was given, and the number of 
killed, wounded and captured, were carefully record- 
ed. All historians delighted in a formidable array of 
dates." * 

Histories of this day are better. The main and 
more intei'csting dates are given. Then, if the reader 
desires a more full and complete knowledge of the 
events, he can read separate books upon the subject. 

It is plain to any observer, that this study of his- 
tory is losing ground, more rapidly than any other 
study, and something must be done to keep it in its 
place. It is thought by some that during the next 
seven years, and more especially the present year, 
when Centennial celebrations will be held in nearly 
every city and town, that the study will receive a new 
impetus. A larger number of lovers of the subject 
think it will create only a short-lived interest, and 
the lack of real interest will be greater than before. 
Tradesmen, manufacturers, professors, and every 
calling will make mone}' out, of it. We saw it at the 
Bunker Hill Celebration." Most of the books that 
were printed for the occasion were either parts of 



]\'OTE.—* " School Histories: ond some Errors in TliPni; " by Samuel 
A. Greene, M. D. This essay originally appeared in the " American Ed- 
ucational Monthly," June, 1872. 



8 



more complete works, old publications issued with 
new titles, or hastily or poorly written volumes by 
which author and publisher tried to make a few dol- 
lars. Mere catch-penny atTairs, with miserable il- 
lustrations, miserable paper and miserable type, 
whose glowing titles and gaudy covers appealed to 
the day's patriotism and excitement and stole money 
from the ignorant purchaser. How great the dearth 
left behind. 

True love of study and true patriotism must be 
instilled into the minds of the people Avhen they are 
young, and because that is not done is the first and 
main reason why the study of history is rapidly loos- 
ing ground. Home, the place where the child should 
be taught and learn all that is good. Kot that kind 
of a home which is merely a domitory and restaurant 
but a haven of rest, where the members of the fam- 
ily love to congregate. There the father should not 
bring his cares and trials — or, at least not show them 
to the little ones. There the mother should have, or 
should make, a time in which to instruct those who 
are to be our future men and women. Home should 
be the nursery of the young tree which is destined 
to bear fruit of some kind, the quality and quantity 
depending almost entirely upon the parents. Teach 
the young child by story and example what to do and 
what to he. Be careful, however, not to force its 
mind in an opposite direction to inclinations, provided 
that inclination is proper and right. Washington, 
Stuart Mill, Bulwer, and a host of others have learned 
from their parents that which has made them great. 

As the child's mind is plastic dui'ing his early 
years, it is easy to create in him a love for historical 
study. He will listen with wonder and amazement 



9 



at fables and mythological wtories, and these stories 
will so impress his mind that he will long remember 
them, and in after years will desire to know more of 
the heroes of which he heard in his childhood. No 
matter how simple, impossible or false, the story, the 
yonng listener will often carry it to his grave. But 
above all do not fill the stories with extremely good 
or extremely bad children, or have them filled with 
many religious texts. Neither must they be too 
simple, but jnst a step in advance of the hearer, that 
he may put forth his hand to grasp them.' Many a 
.time has a child been quieted when troublesome by a 
short anecdote. That is the time to teach him. No 
matter if he has heard the story a hundred times he 
will learn something new from it. The narrator 
must tell "the story with spirit, and clothe it with his 
own imagination, putting his own words into the 
mouth of the hero. Though Sir Walter Scott had 
a natural gift for authorship, that gift was enlarged 
by his surroundings when young. From lying upon 
the grass at Sandy-Knowe and listening to the stories 
told him by the shepherd, watching his sheep; and 
from listening to the legends told him by his grand- 
mother, he passed through school, the favorite of his 
schoolmates, the bosom friend of John Irving, who 
used to sit in Arthur's seat, Salisbuiy Crags, and 
there discuss books with him; and from that to 
Abbotsford, his beautiful home, where he wrote those 
novels that took the world by storm, and gave him 
the titles he deserved, — "Ariasto of the North,'' and 
" The Great Magician." 

The parent may not have this gift of story telling, 
but it is ens}^ to acquire it, or a part of it, and too 
there are a great many books, which when read to 



10 



the child will answer, in place of the gift. There too, 
comes in a need of historical knowledge. Sometimes 
a story like those written by Mr. John Abbott, oi 
Miss Louisa M. Alcott, will be very well read to the 
child. Any tale that contains a mixture of goodness 
and childish mischief — containing more reason and less 
long talks upon mere morality. Such stories as the 
boyhood of Lincoln and Putnam; but never the 
worn out and foolish story of Washington and the 
little hatchet. If good and true historical stories 
arc impressed upon the child's mind in his tender 
years, and if the stories become deeper and deeper, 
as he advances in years, he can not help learning some- 
thing of history. And, too, if a love for such stories 
is instilled into his mind, even if the stories are only 
datached portions of a nation's history, it seems rea- 
sonable to say that he will have a desire for a more 
complete knowledge of it when he is older. If 
parents do not have such stories on their tongues' 
end let them learn them. Let them leave some of 
their trashy reading and study to please their 
children. 

Parents, stop and think! See what a great re- 
sponsibility rests upon your shoulders. You are 
making or marring the futui'e genci-ation. You are 
making good or bad, wise or ignorant, industrious or 
idle men and women, who are yet to fill your places, 
and perform the duties you now perform. Is it not 
far more noble to be the father of a John Stuart Mill, 
than to be the richest man in London? Is it not far 
nearer true womanhc»od to be the mother of a 
Washington, than the most fashionable and most fas- 
cinating woman of 'New York? 

The second reason why history is so little read is 



11 



on account of its not being taught in a correct man- 
ner at school. This very often is caused b}' the 
Educational Boards who try to govern the teacher 
too much. A manual is given the instructor. So 
much time is allowed for each stud}^, and so much 
ground must be gone over in so many weeks. The 
Board has no knowledge of the pupils to be instruct- 
ed, while the teacher has; but still they hamper his 
work by obliging him to teach as they direct. 

^ext in importance to the parents, is the responsi- 
bility which rests with the teacher. Until the child 
is far advanced in his studies, a lady teacher is pj-e- 
ferable to a gentleman She should be "well versed 
upon all the subjects she teaches, though she cannot 
be as thorough in half a dozen ixs the college pro- 
fessor is in two, yet the pupil does not require as pro- 
found learning as the student at the university. 
What the pupil needs is a guide or instructor, who is 
thoroughly in earnest, and who feels the responsibility 
resting upon her, and who means loorl; wiiose 
thought, life and spirit, is with her work. Since the 
demand for teachers is so large, the places are filled 
with many who are not fit for the positions they 
attempt to occupy. It requires as much of a genius 
to be a good teacher, as it does to paint a picture or 
plan a campaign. Too many teach simply for a 
livelihood. They leave all thought of school behind 
them when they close the school-room door at night. 
They perform their daily routint? as if it were a dis- 
agi'eeable duty — the sooner done the better. They 
keep excellent order — order often as well kept as 
a jail. They teach nothing. The scholars pass a 
fair examination, provided they are asked certain 
questions. 



12 



Many teachers do not love the study of histor}', and 
how can they create a love for it in another? If a 
child comes to such a person he will never be a 
student of history unless some outside influence is 
brought to bear upon him. The teachei-'s duty is to 
show to each pupil the use of the study, the pleasure 
to be derived from it, and make it interesting to I im. 
The pupil who has been taught to love it at home, 
when he enters school may need some assistance to 
understand the cause of events and the connection 
between the ditfej-ent epochs, but even if he is left to 
himself he will find out what he desires. The child 
who enters school without any knowledge of or love 
for the study, will never have any desire to know 
unless the teacher lectfU him to it. 

Let us see how history is taught iu some of the 
schools. One teacher takes the text book, and marks 
in brackets just such sentences, or parts of sentences, 
that will answer the questions at the foot of the 
page. Then the study becomes question and answer 
The pupil does not notice or care for, any connection 
between the answers. Another teacher has the scholar 
recite the text from memory, word for word, (parrot- 
like). I know of one teacher who told her scholars 
there were no need of their I'eading the foot notes in 
Lossing's School History. (The foot-notes of that 
history are very important, and often contain a great 
deal of superior information) . One lady, with whom I 
once studied history ,®had an excellent faculty to make 
things plain, and impress the lesson upon the student's 
mind. She did it by reading historical anecdotes, 
which had a connection with the lesson, and giving the 
statements of other historians, and reading fuller ac- 
counts from other books. Then followed familiar 



13 



talks between teacher and scholar. I recollect with 
what interest we restiidied the first chapter of our 
school history. It was about the Northmen. (See 
appendix A). But the best way to teach history is 
by informal lectures, as in college. The teacher can 
introduce the entire lesson into a talk with the 
scholars, and also bring in much that he finds in out- 
side matter. Such stories as Pocahontas savino- 
Smith's life having been proved to be false, must not 
be introduced. 'No story or account, which the pupil 
in alter years, will see is false, should be introduced. 
Columbus and the egg, is doubtless true. . (See 
Historical Magazine, new series, vol. Ill, pp. 116). 
Some school histories contain errors, which the 
teacher should set right. One of these errors is that 
Virginia Dare was the first child of foreign parent- 
age born in America. It was Snorre, son of Gudrid, 
wife of Thorfin. (See appendix B). 

All this, and more, the teacher should know. He 
need not say there is a lack of time or money to buy 
books. He should make time, and when there are 
so many books to be had without money as there are 
in our free public libraries, he can get all the in- 
formation wanted without cost. When the study 
is conducted in the form of informal talks oP 
lectures, the child can cjrtm for an examination, and 
in fact, he may know but little of his lesson. 
This cramming is done in our colleges, and even in 
our schools by the present way of teaching, when a 
pupil is drilled for examination. 

Historical works are written for all ages, andl 
though the child may need some assistance in select- 
ing suitable works, yet if he has been taught to love 
the study, he will find what he wants himself, and 



14 



then become a real student of histoiy. He will be 
pi'epai'cd to listen understandingly to college lectures, 
and what to many at the present day is dry, dead 
and uninteresting, will become to him an agreeable, 
lively and pleasant occupation. 

A third reason why history is so little read, is on 
account of the pi'esent age of scientific discovery. 
That seems to be the favorite study of many who 
had no regular desire for study when 3'ounger. In 
colleges and advanced halls of learning, it is rapidly 
thrusting out literary, classical, gesthetical and his- 
torical studies. Latin and Greek are considered 
almost worthless, and poor history is almost forgotten. 
It is not so, I believe, in Germany. There time and 
influence is not taken from one study to assist an- 
other, but a new or more popuhrr study draws from 
other sources. It has been proved that nothing so 
invigorates mental thought or lays as good a founda- 
tion for knowledge, or is of such value for mental 
discipline as the study of the classics. Though some 
argue that it is superfluous, let not that which has 
been proved by years of use, be pushed into the cor- 
ner for mere easy and popular studies. 

Since religion and science have joined hands, and 
since so many books and magazines are published 
upon the subject, it is not strange that the study of 
the sciences should become more general. (But all 
the world should not study the same subject). If it 
is popular, all who wish to appear learned will get a 
smattering (»f it. It is a very fascinating study, as 
the objects it studies are constantly around u«; yet, 
that study is not a mere learning of what some one 
else has proved, or found out — it is observation and 
examination. History should also be read by ex- 



15 



amination and criticism. The readins: is not a 
committing to memory of focts and dates. It is the 
observation and comparison of events that have led 
to certain results. Anyone can learn a list of events 
and dates, but the student must understand the whys 
and wherefores of epochs and events. He must 
see wh}^ the seed of our national independence was 
planted when the Pilgrims signed the compact, on 
board the Mayflower, in 1020; how it took root at 
the Convention held at Albany, in 1754, and grew 
up to a tree at the signing of the Declaration of 
Independence, in 1776. 

Most readers have one or two favorite studies, but 
there are some who like to have a general knowledge 
that they may appear w^ell in company, understand 
the newspapers, and be called leai-ncd. The latter 
are to be pitied. They do not fill any place in 
society. Their smattering of many kinds of know- 
ledge may be pleasant to themselves, but their 
conversation will be little better than "small talk," 
and they will appear to be so very wise. They will 
be timid when in company with a thoroughly learned 
man, and egotistic when with the more ignorant. 
They ai-e generally mere shallow pretenders. I 
would not have a person make a hobby of his favorite 
study or studies, and continually talk upon the one 
subject. I would have a person understand as 
thoroughly as possible one or two subjects, then when 
his time comes, he will be called upon to speak. 
However, when I see a young man with no real end 
or aim in his reading, or one who cares for nothing 
but fiction, [and generally such like only the w^eakest 
fiction], I would say find something that you enjoy 
studying. Create a love for something higher. 



16 



We have but one or two eloquent lecturers who 
make history their sul)jeet, and we have no "I'opalar 
Historical Monthly,'' by which a person can create a 
love for historical research; but we have a large 
number of popular historical books. [See appendix 
C]. Genteel society does not demand of its members 
a knowledge of history. Women, the rulers of tliis 
society, do not love it; and the fashionable beaux, Yfho 
court their company and study only to please them, 
will not desire to understand what the rulers do not 
love. Women's influence is far beyond men's, but in 
their love for dress and show they use this influence 
in a wrong direction. If they loved study, men who 
like their company would learn to love study. No 
one has any cause to say it is not made plain, or in- 
teresting, for several writers have devoted their 
whole attention to making it simple and interesting. 
They have reduced the great events from ten volumed 
works to one or two. John S. C. Abbott, in his pre- 
face to Frederick the Oreot, says he wrote that book 
simply for those who did not have time to read Carlyle's 
ten volumes. In his Roniaiice of Spanish History 
he has brought out the principle events of the history 
of that nation so strongly, and clothed them with 
such fine descriptions of men, and periods that one 
cannot close the volume without a desire to read 
Irving, Prescott, and Robinson. His aim is to tell 
the truth, after having diligently searched for it, in 
such a style as to impress it upon the reader's mind, 
and create in him a desire to read more extend(?d 
histories. He does not enter into long and extended 
accounts and discussions which will be tedious to 
the new reader of history, or tell what he thinks is 
incorrect, simply to amuse. His works are written 



17 



111 a style to please the youngest reader. They ar©: 
upon, French, German, Spanish, Kussian and Italian 
history. He is now at work upon a series of volumes 
called "American Heroes and Patriots." These will 
be of great interest and service to the youn- who' 
.are now studying American history in our'^publie 
schools. I myself, know of several young peo.^le 
who ai-e now reading more extended works, who were 
led to it, by reading some of his. Francis Park- 
man, too, is engaged upon a series of American 
historical works, suitable to children of older years 
Geo. ^¥. Curtis says of them—" It is to the pages of 
Mr. Parkman that we must go for the American 
Indian. Cooper so bewitches our young funcies with 
Uncas and the red heroes, that it is very difficult to 
divest our estimate of the Indian of a false and fool- 
ish glamour. Mr. Parkman, however, knows him 
by personal experience and long and thoughtful 
study." The series being upon the early French 
discoveries and settlements, will be profitably read 
by many, and can not fail to please all that read them. 
Then, too, there are now being published a series of 
short histories, called " Epochs of History," under 
the editorship of Edward E. Morris, and others. 
These little books give clear, concise and truthful 
pictures of events, some of which have long waited 
for a historian to render interesting to the young. 
Every volume has a list of books to read upon the 
subject it explains. The best of these lists is that 
arranged for " The French Revolution,'* by President 
White, of Cornell University. They are publishedi 
by Longmans & Co., of London, and Scribner & 
Armstrong, of I^ew York. 

The popular reading to-day is fiction and Shakes- 



18 



peare. There is far too much of the former, and 
many who read the latter only read it because it is 
fashionable. Shakespeare Clubs are useless as they 
are generally conducted. How are they conducted? 
One club spends half the evening in simply reading 
a part of a play. Then supper is brought, and the 
musicians come in. The rest of the evening is spent 
in cards and dancing. Another club reads a play 
through each evening. The difterent characters 
being read by the different members. l!^o questions 
are asked, no study or pi-eperation made, no comments 
or opinions, no criticisms of text, characters or plots. 
But little, if any, good can come from such reading. 
Thought, studj^ and work must be given to obtain a 
knowledge of Shakespeare. The. members of the 
class must study before they meet to read. There 
the members should discuss the poet's historical ac- 
curacy, the mistakes and incori-ections be pointed 
out, the meaning of the text explained, and the whole 
read with spirit and leeling. Then the time spent is 
not thrown away. Then the study helps to amuse 
and instruct the student, whether he be a student of 
other subjects, or not. 

Members of fashionable society sometimes read 
Historical Fiction, but is most cases that is not read 
correctly. Historical fiction, has its use, though too 
often it is read wrongly. It should not be i-ead for 
its plot, but for the infoi'mation it contains. It should 
be used as an illustration to regular historical works 
^— the picture, not the text: the map, not the country. 
Its place is to show the manners and customs of the 
people, how they lived and acted in their homes and 
private lives. It can fasten many historic truths and 
give a better idea of the people than the regular 



19 



Encyclopaedia accounts. All the descriptions should 
fee true, and every part of history that is brought in 
should be correct. A little plot, which should be 
drawn from truth, an anecdote or interesting' fact 
should be introduced, but the author should be ex- 
tremely careful that all he says is correct. The 
truth and falsehood of a statement should be well 
weighed in the balance, and the author should give, in 
an appendix or in notes, the sources from which he 
drew his information. Of this class, Scott stands 
first; but even he has failed in some respects. 
"Ivanhoe" illustrates the days of Chivalry, and 
'' The Talisman," the days of the Crusades. But 
when it introduces Shakespeare in Kennelworth, he 
is at fault. (See ajipendix D). Mundt (L. Muel- 
bach), is too sensational, sometimes, but she gives 
well di'awn pictures of the French Kevolution, and 
German Histoiy. Thackejy, though not what could 
be called a regular historical novelist, has drawn a 
fine picture of Queen x\nne's reign, in Henry Esmand. 
Shakespeare is incorrect in historical information 
in King John and Macbeth, But in Richard III, he 
has kept within history, and still gives us a better 
idea of that hero than can be found in any history. 
(See appendix D). 

The fici.icm of past days which has come down to 
us gives us the best idea of the ])eople of the time 
in which they were written. This is seen in Clancer's 
works. One who reads historical fiction for mere 
amusement and plot, will generally find it drjs but 
one who reads it for instruction w\\\ often find it a 
great assistance. 

The conversation and reading of this fashionable 
society is made up of nonsense and "small talk," and 



20 



the gossip. The student can find nothing there to 
enrich his mind, so he returns to his study and bis 
book. Thus he looses the benefit and enjoyment, 
which might be derived from the thought and con- 
versation of those around him. Our public men and 
statesmen often show a want of historical knowledge 
in their work, and hence comes many of their blun- 
ders and mistakes, for only by a study of the past 
can we govern the present. 

Until home, school, and society encourage the 
study, and until some force is brought forward to 
counteract the rage for scientific study, we cannot 
expect the young men around us, and those who are 
soon to be young men, will become students of his- 
tory. Where are the young men who are to fill the 
places of these older men, who are now searching in 
ancient books and dusty papers to bring truth out? 
They are in our homes and in our schools. Let 
every one who has, or can have, any infiuence over 
them, use it rightly. 



ATTENDIX A. 

To this recitation the scholars brought all the in- 
formation they could glean from other books, and 
also brought several books. Among these books 
were the "^NTorthmen in New England," by J. T. 
Smith; and "Pre-Columbian Discovery,'' by Rev. 
B. DeCosta. The latter interested the scholars very 
much. That would be a very scrvicable book for 
teachers of American history. Mr. DeCosta has 
long been a student of the early discovery of 
America, and has spent much time, strength and 
money upon the subject. IJis opinion is often op- 
posite to more celebrated histoi'ians, but is always 
considered correct by the most learned historical 
students. The Historical Magazine says of him, 
(new series, vol. III. pp. 185), "The historical world 
has found another writer who desires to read for him- 
self, to think for himself, and to speak for himself; 
and, although he must expect to meet little f^ivor 
from those on whose ancestral or partisan corns he 
will tread in his fearless combat for the truth, he 
will earn the respect of every one, where respect is 
worth anything besides the a]iproval of his own con- 
science and the lasting regard of the wide world of 
letters." Mr. DeCosta has not only spent much 
time upon Icelandic voyagers, and written several 
able books and pamphlets upon the subject: but has 
also published several historical papers upon other 
subjects. 



24 



APPEJ^DIX B. 

"The first child born here of foreign parentage 
was Snorre, son of Gudrid, the wife of Thorfin, one 
of the Icehmdic navigators. The child attained to 
manhood: and his grandson, Thorlak was advanced 
to the Episcopate, and compiled a code of ecclesias- 
tical laws for the Church in Iceland. The learned 
Icelander, Prof Finn Magnusson and Thorwaldson 
the sculptor, were among the desendants of 8norre. 
No person who is aware of the amount of attention 
paid to genealogy by the Icelander will entertain a 
doubt on the subject. This child was born, it is 
thought, near Mount Hope." 8ee " Footprints of 
Miles Standish," by Rev. B. F. DeCosta. _ 

APPENDIX C. 

In 1872 a very interesting monthly was published 
in Philadelphia under the editorship of Dr. Benson 
J. Lossing. It was devoted to American history, 
had some fine illustrations, and was printed with 
good type and on good paper. It deserved to be well 
received by the scholars of America. After being 
published three years, it was changed into the pre- 
sent I*otter's American Monthly, on account of its 
not being a financial success. Being devoted en- 
tirel}'^ to historical research and being written in a 
style to please every age, it should have been better 
received. The magazine did not support itself. As 
it is published now it is devoted partly to history but 
more to fiction and other studies. 

" The New Ensrland Genealoo^ical and Historical 

■ Register," has now reached its thiitieth volume. 

In this the student can find very much instruction 



25 

and many papers of gi-eat interest, showing g.-eat 
research and hibor but this has only kept itselfllive 
by the free contributions of such men as John Ward 
Dean, Samuel G. Drake, and Com. Geo. Henry 
Preble. These gentlemen, and a host of others no 
less able and noted, have filled its pages with articles 
of value, given their time to it, simply out of love 
for the study of histoi-y and a desire to spread knowl- 
edge. Great praise is due them for their unselfish 
work, and though only a part of this generation 
values or is aware of their labor, yet we all hope the 
next generation will be aware of it. Let all interested 
in the work show their interest by sending a sub- 
scription, at once, to 18 Somerset St., Boston, Mass. 
There is also published at Morrisaina, :N'ew York, 
another Historical Magazine, owned and edited by 
Mr. Henry B. Dawson. This is a monthly. The 
proprietor has spent much money upon it, and the 
pei-iodical does not pay for itself Its articles are 
from the pens of some of our a1)lest historical 
writers, who assist Mr. Dawson in his gi-eat under- 
taking. Material which would not otherwise be 
printed, appears in its columns, and it is constantly 
used by historians, for the value, depth, research, and 
information, contained in its pages. The studious 
portion of our people should subscribe to it at once, 
and those who desire to help education should assist 
the learned and self-sacrificing proprietor in his work, 
of saving Avhat is valuable to the student and spread- 
ing it out to the world. 



APPENDIX D. 

Dr. R. Shelton Mackenzie, in his " Life of Sir 



26 



Walter Seott," published by J. K. Osgood & Co., of 
Boston, says — "It has been said the 'Great Homer 
sometimes nods,' and therefore perhaps Scott may be 
excused for some palpable mistakes he made in 'Kenil- 
worth,' — in quoting from Shakespeare which were not 
written at the stated date of the story. Elizabeth paid 
the visit to Lord Leicester in Kenilwoi'th C-astle, so 
well described by Scott, in July, 1575; and at that 
date we haveWayland Smith 'singing a stave from a 
comedy which was then new, and was supposed, 
among the more favorable judges to augur some 
genius on the part of the author.' The quotation, a 
couplet put into the mouth of Caliban, occurs in 
"The Tempest," which was not acted until 1611. 
Queen Elizabeth quotes from 'Troilus and Cressida,* 
written two years earlier. ^Valter Raleigh quotes 
the beautiful compliment to the maiden queen, the 
* Fair vestal throned by the west,' uttered by Oberon, 
in 'A Midsummer-Night's Dream,' not written until 
1598, thirty years later! There seldom has been a 
greater anachronism than this, especially as, when 
Elizabeth was at Kenilworth, Shakespeare, born in 
1564, was only eleven years old." 

This "Life of Scott," by Dr. Mackenzie, contains 
very much that is not in Lockhart's more ex- 
tended biography, and wnll be of great assistance 
to any one reading Scott's novels. It gives in 
many places the sources from which the novelist 
di'ew his information, little criticisms upon the 
novels and characters in them, and a pleasing 
account of his life, the influence that made him 
what he was, and interesting accounts of his 
friends, his work, and the society in which he 
moved. It is just the book for one wath only 



27 



a little time to read, but who desires to learn 
much in that little time. 

APPENDIX D. 

Hiram Corson, M. A., Professor of Anglo-Saxon 
and English Literature in the Cornell University, 
said, in an address upon " The Claims of Literary 
Culture," among many other good things the follow- 
ing: — " Take any one of the great characters of 
Shakespeare, and it will be f(5und that the poet, by 
the subtle and, to some extent, unsearchable, alchemy 
of his ipiagination, has worked into new forms, 
ordinary elements of humanity, and that the boldest 
of his creations serve but to exhibit the essential 
principles of our common nature. In the character 
of Richard III., he has moulded into a consistant 
individuality, 'the hero, the lover, the statesman, the 
buffoon, the hypocrite, the hardened and repentant 



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